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At my wits end......

penfold
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 2,280
Thanks: 25
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Registered: ‎01-08-2007

At my wits end......

I have really now had enough of my line problems.  My line has had an issue since Christmas, seemingly fixed by a line card change, and then onn 9th march had to raise another ticket.  TO cut a long story short, BT refuse to admit a fault on the line, but the sync is up and down more times than a lift.....  Very poor Upstreams when the fault is apparant, and to cap it off, the CSC agent I sopke with tonight saif he could not do a line test due to a fault on the line.  I am absolutely sick of this, and feel very aggreaved.  All I want is a stable service.  The last engineer stated the D side was now OK, and if more issues it would be the E side.  BT were supposed to check the E side this week, but no updates. The line was stable for a couple of days, with respectable syncs for ADSL2+ but today, back to poor upstream syncs, attenuation rises etc.  Came someone with authority please take ownership of this, before I resort to a formal complaint.  I dont want to sound bullish, but if you look at my tickets, and radius logs, you can see what I mean.......
In fact as I am typing this, cannot post, as noise margin dropped from 9dB, to -1.5dB.  WTF
142 REPLIES 142
xpcomputers
Grafter
Posts: 461
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: At my wits end......

Penfold,
Sounds like a very frustrating experience you've had so far...
Not sure what staffing levels will be like over Easter though, so whilst you'll hopefully get a response from Plusnet soon, it could be Tues now before anything more can be booked with BT (with further delays due to them catching up from being off). I hope this isn't the case, but best to slightly lower expectations for a few days just in case.
I know Plusnet will be keen to get this resolved for you, but the BT system of sending different engineer after engineer to run the same checks for two hours as the last one did must surely be the problem with so many faults like your that drag on. It feels like they need a faster process to escalate all but the simplest problems to someone to manage from beginning to end. They stay until they crack it. If it needs further work, send out the same person to take it further. etc
I'm sure most people would prefer to be flexible about when a BT guy came if they would get the same one back, rather than watch as a new guy does the same old checks time after time!
Good luck with your fault, and I hope you get it resolved soon.
Mike
penfold
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 2,280
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Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: At my wits end......

XP
Thanks, yes its very frustrating, its also frustrating, that the faults team cannot be contacted directly, I called tonight, got a CSC rep, who unfortunately bore the brunt of my frustration, and if CS read this, I am sorry.  Was told there is no way to talk to faults, but how can different CSC agents be expected to resolve ongoing issues. i feel some reorganisation needed.
I realise its not Plusnets fault, but BT.  Why cant they see, it must cost more, to keep sending different engineers out, who have no idea whats gone on before etc etc, rather than just give a resonable time frame of 3-4hrs, for the engineer to do proper fault checks, and find the fault. BT want to escalate this to a level4 faults engineer, whatever that is, but they say there is nothing wrong with D or E side, but looking at my stats, there must be. Current stats below.  Attenuation is usually 43-45dB, and I am on Daves DLM trial, with 9dB up and down.  Obviously an issue I think.  Usually sync at around 7000ish down, and 850ish up, when line OK, with an attn down of 45dB, and SNR of 9dB.
Rate:          4458 kbs  116 kbs
Max Rate: 6105 kbs 212 kbs
Noise Margin: 15.3 dB 8.9 dB
Attenuation:         47.0 dB 26.2 dB
Output Power: 19.8 dBm 11.8 dBm
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: At my wits end......

Hi Penfold,
I can see we've got an engineer visit booked for this morning, hopefully that should get things sorted for you - we'll be in touch this afternoon to see how it all went. If you could post back advising how things have gone that'd be great also.
penfold
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 2,280
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Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: At my wits end......

Thanks Matt.  BT engineer turned up, I was not there due to work commitments, but my wife was.  I did speak with the engineer on the phone.  He appeared to test everything he could, and changed the BT Master socket, according to him, because he was messing there anyway. He checked the exchange, and according to my wife, the line went wrong when he was there, with the unable to obtain PPP connectivity, issue.  As soon as he connected up his router, there was no problem.  The error rates he was seeing, were well within normal limits, and he really was at a loss, as I described the faults, and also mentioned that you tried to do line checks, and they came up with a fault.  It would be interesting to know the engineer opinion from his notes.  As soon as he came he synced up immediately, with an upstream in the 800s, and Down over 5000. My current syncs below, and also the errors are also posted. 
Rate:          7184 kbs  875 kbs
Max Rate: 7184 kbs 875 kbs
Noise Margin: 5.7 dB 4.7 dB
Attenuation:       45.1 dB 24.5 dB
Output Power: 20.3 dBm 12.4 dBm

Collected for 2Days22:44:52
                                      Since   Current Current         Time Since
                                      Reset 24-hr int. 15-min int. Last Event
ATM
Last Event
Cell Header Errors       36910 1108             0 0:29:04
Loss of cell Delineation 35234 957             0 0:29:04
DSL
Link Retrains:                   15 7                     0 6:34:35
DSL Training Errors:           33 25                     0 6:33:09
Training Timeouts:             4 4                     0 8:54:59
Loss of Framing Failures:      27 15                     0 6:34:35
Loss of Signal Failures:     27 15                     0 6:34:35
Loss of Power Failures:       0 0                     0 0:00:00
Loss of Margin Failures:     430 15                        0 6:34:35
Cum. Seconds w/Errors: 1417 140               0 0:29:04
Cum. Sec. w/Severe Errors: 640 20                       0 6:34:35
Corrected Blocks:         56455 6437             85 0:00:10
Uncorrectable Blocks: 36984 1135               0 0:29:04
DSL Unavailable Seconds: 4077 3705               0 6:32:50
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: At my wits end......

Hi penfold,
I've noticed your update to the ticket regarding the buzzing noise, I'm happy to report this for you but it'll mean closing the broadband fault while the phone fault is investigated. On the bright side that'll certainly reduce the number of errors and if you're still getting disconnections it should stop those as well.
I'm posting this rather than raising the fault straight away as I need to make sure you're happy that the broadband fault will be closed when we report the fault on the phone line. If so post back and I'll get the phone fault raised.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: At my wits end......

I've not had to raise a fault so I haven't seen the dialogue when raising a BB fault; does one of the early questions ask about the clarity of the phone line (and if not, why not)?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: At my wits end......

Not at present, because when it was created we didn't sell home phone - and at the time if a fault on a phone line was detected the broadband fault would be closed automatically with a note asking us to tell the customer to raise a fault with their phone provider.
To pre-empt your next question - yes, we will be looking at updating the faults wizard, but we don't have any set dates at present.
EDIT to add: It does, in the event of an intermittent connection, ask if the call drops at certain times i.e. when a phone call is made or received however.
xpcomputers
Grafter
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Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: At my wits end......

Excellent question Jelv. I like your thinking on that one!
It is obvious that it should be there as a question in the fault checker. It could save lots of time and faffing in the process if voice faults got weeded out of the mix right at the start, and tackled as such from day one.
I look forward to hopefully seeing this get implemented in the future....
Mike
penfold
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 2,280
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Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: At my wits end......

Thanks Matt.  The buzzing has now gone again......  Things seemed stable last night, just need to wait for my profile to go back up.  i am understandably anxious, as this happens all the time, couple of days of stability, after engineer been, then it all starts again.  Lets see what happens now.  BT engineer noted that the buzzing as well, and mentioned it may be due to our phone, but not sure what else was said, my wife cannot remember.  Be interesting to see the engineers notes.....
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: At my wits end......

I've just gone to take a look at the fault and see if there are any notes available but it doesn't look like they've been added at present. I'll see if I can get one of the faults guys to take a look and get some information for you.
penfold
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 2,280
Thanks: 25
Fixes: 5
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: At my wits end......

@MATT
Well I did have my fingers crossed, but it wasnt to be......  After 4 days of a consistent sync all hell broke lose this afternoon.......  The connection has finally settled down, but have phoned the CSC, to bounce this back.  The agent also mentioned that no engineer notes were to hand, I would be interested to note his findings....  Anyhow, just what can be wrong with this line???  The engineer admitted, that they were running out of ideas.  Has anyone ever had a complete new line run at all??  I am now stumped, and at a loss, as to what to do next.  I even went out to buy another router, just in case, but no luck, and I also left the phone disconnected for 2 hrs, again just in case.......  Nothing helped.  I have again removed the XTE-5 faceplate, and am now connected via the test socket, with a filter, but surprisingly, everything since this appears stable, this has never happened before Undecided Undecided  Is it possible, even though I have used the test socket before, that the filtered faceplate was deteriorating....  I have never actually heard of a faulty filtered faceplate, and even a google search turns up nothing, on how to test for this.
EDIT.  Lost sync 5 times over the past few mins Sad Sad    Semm unable to hold a stable connection again.  Upstream syncs predictably going down again.
amcclean
Rising Star
Posts: 1,817
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: At my wits end......

I'm not on 21cn but a few months ago my line kept going up and down like a yoyo as well. Spent weeks with PN cs team and engineer visits.
The changed faceplate claiming capacitance was out. The engineer had wird idea about how routers work as well.
could it be possible if no faults are found on your line that not all PN or Bt systems have caught up with your change in connection type eg radius etc.
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: At my wits end......

Hi penfold,
Yep, I can see the dropping connections have returned. We're looking into it for you now, there'll be an update shortly.
penfold
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 2,280
Thanks: 25
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Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: At my wits end......

Been having a read of another post, and REIN came up.  I am pretty sure its not this, I live on a housing estate, no businesses around that would use heavy industrial equip etc. Green box, is on the main road, just off my estate, again surrounded by houses.  There is one street light across from my house.  Line goes to the pole, and then appears to go down the pole and directly underground. Just for interest, my next door neighbour asked if I had got my BB sorted as hes having the same problems, with dops in sync.  Hes with 02.
In the house the line comes in throught the front window, to a little box (Its not an RF filter), past a couple of leccie sockets, to the Master.  The drops seem completely random though.  Interestingly, every time BT come and fiddle, its OK for a couple of days, and then starts again.  I would LOVE to know what BT do.  I wonder if its worth asking for a lift and shift?Huh
I have a 2wire HGV2700.  How do I go about using routerstats.  If they wont run on this, I do have a Speedtouch 585V6. If I use routerstats, does the PC have to stay on.  SOrry for my ignorance, never used this app before.